Saturday, July 14, 2012

Polari First Book Prize announce longlist

Queer writing prize selection reflects "the diversity of LGBT literary voices"

 12 Jul 2012 - Diva



The longlist for the Polari First Book Prize was announced last night at an event at the Southbank Centre. This year, for the first time, the winner will receive £1000, courtesy of Square Peg Media.

The Polari Prize is for a first book which explores the LGBT experience and is open to any work of poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction published in the UK in English within the twelve months of the deadline for submissions (this year 1st February, 2012). Self-published works in both print and digital formats are eligible for submission.

The ten long listed books are:

Rory's Boys by Alan Clark (Bliss/Arcadia Books)
Pennance by Claire Ashton (self published on Kindle)
The Frost Fairs by John McCullogh (Salt)
Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald (Transworld)
Exit Through The Wound by North Morgan (Limehouse Books)
Body of Water by Stuart Wakefield (self published)
Modern Love by Max Wallis (Flap)
Ey Up and Away by Vicky Ryder (Wandering Star Press)
Grrl Alex by Alex Drummond, (self published)
Perking The Pansies by Jack Scott (Summertime Publishing)




Paul Burston, Chair of the judges, said: "This is a strong long list which reflects the diversity of LGBT literary voices and the variety of ways in which authors make their voices heard. The judges would like to thank Linda Riley of Square Peg Media for her generous support in celebrating the inventiveness, distinctiveness and excellence of the very best of queer writing."

The short list will be announced in September and the winner will be announced at the Polari 5th Birthday on Monday 26 November.

The judges for the 2012 prize are:

Paul Burston (Chair of Judges), author, journalist and host of Polari
Rachel Holmes, Head of Literature at the Southbank
Suzi Feay, literary critic
Joe Storey-Scott, books buyer
Bidisha, writer, critic and broadcaster


Visit the Polari First Book Prize on Facebook

1 comment:

Stuart Wakefield said...

It's so exciting to have been long-listed and I'm honoured to be rubbing shoulders with some amazing authors!